1590
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Heroic Landscape is a 1590 ink by Paul Bril, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a quiet scene with a tall church spire on the right and a tree with bare branches on the left. In the middle, a few small figures walk near a building with columns and statues. The ground is rough with rocks and grass, and the whole drawing is done in brown ink with quick, sketchy lines. The artist used lots of overlapping lines to build up shadows—this is called *cross-hatching*. It gives the scene depth without heavy shading. Next, check out cross-hatching to see how artists create texture with just ink lines.
Paul Bril was a Flemish painter and printmaker principally known for his landscapes. He spent most of his active career in Rome. His Italianate landscapes had a major influence on landscape painting in Italy and Northern Europe.
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